Pope Francis embraces a child during his meeting with participants in the Children’s Train initiative at the Vatican on June 4, 2022. / Vatican Media
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2022 / 05:35 am (CNA).
Pope Francis had a poignant exchange Saturday with a young Ukrainian boy who asked him to visit Ukraine “to save all the children who are suffering there now.”
The conversation took place at the Vatican where the pope met with 160 schoolchildren of various faiths participating in the program “Treno dei Bambini,” Italian for “Children’s Train,” an initiative of the Pontifical Council for Culture in collaboration with the Italian state railways.
The request for Pope Francis to visit Ukraine came from a young Ukrainian boy named Sachar, who left Ukraine as a refugee and now lives in Rome, according to Vatican Media.
“I do not have a question but a request: Can you come to Ukraine to save all the children who are suffering there now?” the boy asked.
“I am glad that you are here. I think a lot about the children of Ukraine, and for that I have sent some cardinals to help there and to be close to all the people, to the children,” responded the pope, who was seated in his wheelchair.
“I would like to go to Ukraine,” he continued. “I just have to wait for the moment to do it, you know, because it’s not easy to make a decision that can do more harm than good to the whole world.”
The pope went on to say that “this coming week I will be receiving representatives of the Ukrainian government, who will come to talk, also to talk about my possible visit there. Let’s see what happens.” You can watch the pope’s interactions with the children in the EWTN video below:
June 3 marked the 100th day of the war in Ukraine. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, since Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24, 4,183 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, of whom 268 are minors. In addition, 5,014 people have been injured, including 427 minors.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that nearly 7 million refugees have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since the fighting started, and millions more have been displaced from their homes to other parts of Ukraine.
This story was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency. The story was translated and edited by CNA.
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A comprehensive attempt at reconciling Humanity with technological advancement. Leo XIV to his credit integrates John Paul II with Pope Francis. He does so with focus on the common good and the preservation if not restoration of our humanness in an already digitalized culture.
“In this same vein, I too have reaffirmed that the Church does not claim to possess a monopoly on truth, because truth is not a territory to be defended, but a good to be shared. For his part, Pope Francis expressed this same perspective in his striking phrase, time is greater than space”.
This is a provocative comment that can be understood from a progressive or more conservative perspective. At this interval Pope Leo deserves a positive interpretation of his effort at reconciliation of the Francis break with his predecessors.
Should read: [for] his effort at reconciliation of the Francis break with his predecessors.
Interesting read.
One example where “time is greater than space” breaks down, would be Zionism. Zionism is not limited by either space or time, where both are subordinated and dominated; and it stakes its claims on them equally, only limited by momentary exigencies.
‘ We must speak frankly: there are some people who are committed to conquering their perceived enemies and their chosen method—their only method—is lethal violence. I am nearly finished writing my next book right now, titled Eastern Christian Encounters with Islam, and anyone with even a passing knowledge of the history of Syria, Egypt, Armenia, or many other countries knows how many millions of Christians, ancient and modern, from the seventh century to the twenty-first, have perished or been persecuted because certain Muslims were more interested in jihad than in jaw-jaw, more ruthless in pursuit of conquest than conversation. (At the same time, however, as the book will show, there have been periods and places where Muslim-Christian relations were rather amicable if often one-sided.)
Constant exhortations to Christians, then, to continue to dialogue with other religions must be met by even more constant and even more vigorous demands, by, from, and for Muslims themselves, that they now and forever forswear any and all uses of violence against all people over cartoons or other equally absurdly trivial and non-life-threatening things. ‘
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2015/02/10/the-dangers-of-abstraction-and-the-limits-of-dialogue/
My Comment Joseph M. Sammut
Magnifica Humanitas
We are living a moment where artificial intelligence is rapidly shaping how we work, decide, and relate to one another. It is often presented as progress, yet it quietly raises deeper questions about human dignity, truth, and responsibility.
Magnifica Humanitas helps us recognise that the real issue is not only the technology itself, but the values being built into it. Technology is never neutral; it carries the vision of those who design and use it.
This creates a tension: will these systems serve the human person, or will they begin to reshape what it means to be human in narrower, controlled ways?
The Letter invites us to move beyond passive acceptance. It calls us to take responsibility—to question, to discern, and to ensure that the development of artificial intelligence reflects our shared dignity and interdependence.
The challenge before us is clear: not simply to manage technology, but to shape it with conscience, so that it truly serves life.